Sunday, September 19, 2010

Wildcats crash the party at Jerry World

The view from my seat in the press box at Cowboys Stadium .

Well, the ACU contingent of director of athletics Jared Mosley, head football coach Chris Thomsen, alumni relations officer and radio play-by-play man Grant Boone and myself have made it to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington for today's game between the Cowboys and the Chicago Bears.

I'm in the press box for the game, Jared is in the stands with an ACU donor and Thomsen and Boone have made their way to a luxury suite – along with ACU president Dr. Phil Schubert and his wife, Jamie – to watch the game with another ACU donor.

If you haven't yet been to Cowboys Stadium, let me just say this ... WOW! No matter what you think of Jerry Jones and his ownership of the Cowboys over the last 21 years, he has built an unbelievable stadium. It's part stadium, part spaceship and part circus attraction, but 100 percent impressive.

Unfortunately we won't have the same field access as we had last year in Cincinnati when the Bears took on the Bengals and Bernard Scott, but the Cowboys have been extremely accommodating to us, and for that we thank them.

On the way, I ran into Midwestern State graduate and former Wichita Falls Times Record-News writer Nick Eatman, who now writes for dallascowboys.com. You might remember Nick from the work he does for the Lone Star Conference at the LSC Post-Season Basketball Tournament and the season previews he writes for each school for the league's Web site.

One thing I've heard from people who have been to games is they believe the Cowboys have lost touch with their past in the new stadium. But I can tell you that I saw plenty of reminders of the franchise's past success, starting with a statue of former head coach Tom Landry near the main entrance. Also spotted quite a few large photos of greats like Bob Lilly, Roger Staubach, Drew Pearson, Harvey Martin, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Randy White, Don Meredith, Don Perkins, Chuck Howley, Tony Hill, Tony Dorsett, Landry, and Tex Schramm lining the walls leading to the press box and luxury suites, as well as those of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Jay Novacek, Charles Haley, Larry Allen, Darren Woodson, and many others.

Should be a fun one this afternoon, and despite the fact that I'm a Cowboys fan, today a large part of me is rooting for the Bears just so that we might see Danieal Manning and Johnny Knox have the chance to shine in their home state.